


To the Farplane and Back

by scalpelslut



Category: Final Fantasy X & Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy X-2
Genre: F/F, Multi, did somebody say yearning???, featuring bit parts from the Other People, probably going to get nfsw sorry, yuna has tidus on weekends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:40:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25141780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scalpelslut/pseuds/scalpelslut
Summary: Will you hold my memories with care? Will you cradle all of me, my hurt and my loss? It isn't easy to be vulnerable with someone new. It's easy to distrust someone when you've been burnt, and Paine is more scarred than other ex-crusaders. When a job goes wrong and it's life or death, a chance encounter might just be the beginning of finally healing.
Relationships: Paine/Rikku/Yuna
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	1. Ambush

Something about Yuna has always pulled something in Paine’s cold, dark heart. She would rebuff you if you called her a fan, certainly, but the fondness in her heart was all-consuming. What a tender, kind soul that girl is, a bright light in the world.

The very first time she ever saw Yuna was watching her on the spherecast of her speech after the defeat of Sin and the freedom from subjugation of Yevon. Those eyes and that voice lit a fire in Paine’s stomach she wasn’t sure she could ever forget. The gentle smile on her lips that belied a strong heart, the wavering voice which told a story of loss and love, and a deep passion for human kindness and empathy that burned so strong it nearly hurt to look at her. But Paine wanted to look at her all day. 

It helped that she was on the lam from Yevon at that time. The disbandment was very convenient actually, it made any bureaucracy unstable and that hid her very nicely. Until they rebranded as New Yevon. New name, same great evil. 

Paine met Rikku on a sphere hunt she had been hesitant to bother with--with no group Paine was outnumbered and alone. Even with her strict training as a soldier she wouldn’t be enough to face the kinds of fiends spheres attract, to think otherwise would have been cocky. Even groups of battle hardened Crusaders could be mauled by a single coeurl with a penchant for human flesh. And those were only the garden variety of fiends spheres attracted, there was always much worse to come. Despite the risks, gil was much more important than saving her own skin. If she had no gil, that meant no inn to sleep in, and she wasn’t exactly able to stick around places too long. Being on the run from people who were certainly still in positions of power within New Yevon made life a lot harder for her. 

So with no choice in the matter and an ache in her stomach she went regardless, a lone wolf silently taking out small packs of fiends who didn’t expect her. The sphere would be worth the way her stomach ached as she trudged through the forest.

It grew dark quickly, though, and in the dark the fiends only grew in strength and numbers. Despite her own strength she grew tired and needed respite. She was only one woman after all, there wasn’t much she could do once her arms started aching.

Against her own best interests she found a spot and set a fire, letting herself sit at the base of a cliff for only a moment. That moment was enough. Paine froze momentarily, a faint growl much too close for comfort. She locked eyes with the fiend. A wolf of all creatures, fur white with sharp bristles and its mouth dripping red with its last prey. She hadn’t been foolish, she thought, she’s certain she’d covered her tracks but the wolf had simply gotten lucky. It set upon her, circling her pyre and snarling. It was a long day of battle and she was running low on energy, mustering only enough to raise her sword when the fiend jumped at her. 

“Cover your eyes!” shrieked a high pitched voice, but Paine didn’t have the seconds to do so and found herself blinded. A flashbang lobbed by the strange girl slammed square into the wolf’s head, sending the fiend careening into the side of a tree. A hand covered in a soft leather glove grabbed hers and dragged her away, ears still ringing with the loud pop the grenade sounded off. The person holding her hand pulled her along, how far they went Paine wasn’t wholly sure. The distance left her panting, but the girl leading stopped much too quickly for Paine to stop herself, sending her straight to the ground with a bruised tailbone to show for it. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Paine griped, rubbing her aching eyes. When her vision centered she could see the girl at last. A long scarf dropped to the grass when the girl squatted over to inspect the unlucky woman she’d just saved. The spiral eyes, vibrant with curiosity and life, met Paine’s with a slight, sheepish grin. 

“Um, saving your life, dummy.” The girl popped back up from her pose and held out a hand for Paine. Paine eyed the girl warily until she realized, even in the dark, exactly who this girl was. She’d been at the speech--Rikku. The daughter of the Al Bhed leader Cid. Paine let her mouth hang open for a moment of shock, but steeled herself with a faint chuckle. She took the girl’s hand, and with effort she rose too, wobbling a little. “I’m Rikku.”

“Then thanks, I guess. I gotta go get my stuff.” Paine turned her cheek, starting to walk back towards the makeshift camp. 

“Hey!” Rikku popped back in front of her. “There’s no way you’re going back there, especially not alone! That thing is bloodthirsty and you’re clearly super tired! I’m gonna go with you.” Rikku put her hands on her hips, triumphant. Paine clicked her tongue in distaste and tossed her head aside. 

“You don’t know me. I’ll be fine.” She wasn’t so sure, but it was better than this kid taking pity on her for such a stupid mistake. “I don’t need any more help.” 

“Mmhm, sure.” With that, Paine started walking more quickly and Rikku followed her anyway. Paine grit her teeth and kept herself focused on keeping a watchful eye on the trees instead of her new tag along. The fiend could have been anywhere after that much of a scuffle and she didn’t want to get surprised again. Rikku just kept on talking. “You know, we have a room at the inn here. I’m pretty close with the big guy so I know what to say to get the good stuff. It sucks to be out here when the fiends are, I know I’d be too scared to sleep!” 

“If you don’t shut up, we’ll be sleeping forever. Would you like that?” Paine snapped, in a whisper. 

“Jeez louise, sorry!” Rikku pouted, but did keep quiet after the chastising. Good thing she was just loud and not brainless, because these kinds of fiends were best at tracking through noise. The two crept through the woods, keeping watch as the shadows shifted behind the treeline. It was watching them, undeniably so. 

“You really dragged me all the way out here, huh.” Paine huffed, wiping the sweat from her brow and surveying her surroundings. The woods were dark and dense and she wasn’t quite able to place the glow of the fire--thank goodness she had lit one, she thinks, hoping it will stand the test of time as they work their way back. “If we get eaten it’s on you.”

“What?! I just saved your butt! I’m not sure if you knew but wolves run really fast. If we had stuck around it would have gotten up and attacked us both!” Rikku’s voice was absolutely louder than it needed to be, and Paine grimaced, her hands clenched into fists. 

“Hush!” She covered the girl’s mouth with her hand and held a finger out. The growling had returned, fire nowhere in sight. Rikku gave her that sheepish smile again and shrugged in resignation. “Wolves hunt in packs, fiends or not. We need to be quiet.

“I don’t have my sword. If they hit us I’m not going to be any help. We have to get to the camp.” Paine whispered, taking a lower stance and slowing their pace. Rikku wisely kept her mouth shut and did the same, crouching low and shuffling behind her. To Paine’s relief the light of the fire finally flickered through the trees. The camp was finally within reach, fire beckoning sweetly to the exhausted woman. This was no time for rest, though, the wolves were seated at the fire as well. Three full sized fiends gnawed at the bones of some unfortunate soul. Paine put her arm up to stop Rikku, who smacked into it unawares. “Quiet. They’re there.”

“Wow. It’s a little family.” Rikku whispered, smiling a little but immediately going back to a serious face. “Okay, serious mode. I can’t take three at once! I’ve got a couple of friends but I, er, ran off to help you. I don’t know if they’re still around and if I called them my blabbermouth of a brother would scream and get us even MORE killed. What should we do?!” 

“Well, if I had my sword and maybe some water I could help, but those things are still in there.” Paine whispered back, staring at the campsite. “...but they’re not humans. They don’t really care about anything but food, so they’re not guarding them.”

“Ohhhh no. You’re not asking ME to go get them are you? For real?” Rikku grimaced and covered her ears. “No way. I’m not fast enough! Those things’ll eat me next!”

“Well luckily for you they’re already eating. That’ll give you a good head start. Toss me my sword and I can rip these things to shreds.” Paine gives a faint, cocky grin, her first in a long, long time. Rikku was a lot, but Paine could see those lean legs. This girl was a runner.

“...Well…” Rikku paused, twiddling her fingers nervously. “...Ugh, fine, but you owe me ANOTHER one.”

“Another what?” Paine snorted.

“Another… whatever! Rrr!” Rikku bolted up, hitting her head on a low hanging branch of the tree they’d been parked behind. The leaves were tousled and she covered her mouth up in fear. The wolves, thankfully, didn’t budge, and she sighed out in relief. “Fine. I got it. If I don’t DIE HORRIBLY then you have to join my sphere hunting squad!”

Paine pushed herself up with some labor and sighed a breath of resignation. At least joining a squad meant no more fiend ambushes, she thought, giving the girl a nod of “Fine.” Rikku pumped a fist in the air and bolted to another tree to wait in hiding.

In her fear Rikku was absolutely exaggerating--she was that fast. She had absolutely no trouble fetching the sword without alerting the dogs. That was, when she was finally being serious anyways. Paine supposed that was the power of a Calm-bringing Guardian after all--to survive Sin is no small feat. Then the words clicked in her head.

That’s one of Yuna’s Guardians. The timing was perfect, just when she’d felt her most alienated and empty a bright light pops into view--the High Summoner. Well, not exactly her, but a sign is a sign damnit, and Paine was going to play it cool and not mess this up. This was the best chance to meet Yuna she’d ever been given. Sure, it was a gamble, Rikku could be completely out of contact with Yuna, or more specifically kept from contact with her. Paine loved to gamble and this was no different.

The wolves were dispatched with ease once Paine got her things back. Rikku was no slouch in battle, and even at her lowest the idea of meeting Yuna put a pep back into Paine’s step. Not that she really let it show. She kept that steely glare on her face to keep Rikku distant. Or so she hoped, it turned out that Rikku’s brother wasn’t the only ‘blabbermouth’ in the family. On and on the girl would chatter as the pair made their way towards the inn that Paine so desperately hoped would be real. 

Turns out, if she let Rikku talk long enough, she would tell Paine all kinds of things. Things about Yuna, even. Almost unprompted. 

“So... you probably know who I am, right?” The comment made her snort.

“What if I don’t?” She retorts, trying not to look as winded as she felt. Rikku was fairly far ahead at this point, her braids swaying in the breeze. “No. I could pick you out of any crowd. You only dress like a chocobo.”

“Hey! Chocobos are cute!” Rikku struck a pose midwalk and nearly toppled over. “I meant I told you my name, duhhh. Does that change your answer? We run into a lot of weird stuff. We’ve got this huge sphere oscillo-finder that Buddy--that’s my brother’s best friend, Buddy, found, and like, we find a LOT of stuff. But usually there’s a lot of dangerous stuff around them and we really never manage to get the stuff, you know?” No, Paine did not know.

“Sure.” She said, expression unchanging. “Listen, this slip-up? This was an outlier. I don’t usually get caught in a bind like that one, I’m perfectly good at defending myself. I’m not afraid of some abstract danger. If you give me a cut of the gil you make while I cover your ass, then I’m your woman.”

“Ohhh ho ho ho, oh yeah?” Rikku’s lips curled up into a devilish grin and she tilted her head to the side, biting her lip. “You’re my woman? Didn’t think you were the type!” She stopped to nudge Paine’s ribs with her elbow. 

“Shut your trap, you know what I mean.” Paine jabbed back, but her cheeks were distinctly a soft pink. “Do you want to hire me or not?” Rikku snickered and patted Paine’s shoulder a little too hard. 

“Course I do! I’d be too stupid not to, you didn’t let me get eaten!” At that moment, Paine felt a momentary wish that she had. The way her heart immediately started to race spoke otherwise. “Plus, you promised. And I don’t take promises lightly, that stuff is serious. You’re a Gullwing now!”

“A Gullwing?” Paine smirked incredulously. Figures. “What, do you have an airship or something? Kind of a crummy name for a sphere hunter group.”

“Um, duh. Of course we have an airship.” Rikku gave her a wink. “My dad’s got connections.” Yeah, Paine would believe it when she saw it. Rikku noted her disbelief and her smile grew, and she pointed her finger high to the sky. 

“Holy shit.” The ship was MASSIVE, suspended in the sky on spinning engines with the brightest red paint she’s ever seen. It’s the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen. “You’re joking. How is that yours?”

“Um, my dad is Cid. He’s kind of a big deal, even if he’s an idiot.” She rolled her eyes at the idea. Rikku gave a full body wave with both arms, perhaps signaling at the ship. “We found it, actually, scavenging. My brother and Buddy fixed it up and now she’s soaring high as a kite!”

“...And the inn you talked about?” Paine asked tentatively, scrunching her brow as her stomach growled much more markedly.

“I might have lied a little teensy bit, buuuuut… Okay I didn’t really think that one through. When I’m nervous, I talk! And I was terrified of wolves eating my face, which is a perfectly reasonable time to accidentally invite you to my room. Oops!” Paine pinched the rim of her nose and tried to forget the conversation had even happened to begin with. “But anyways the offer is still out there, we’ve got a big ol’ cabin with food and stuff to buy too.”

“Wait, what? Why is there a store in your airship?” 

“Well, uh, it’s kind of a long story. Why don’t we just get on and we can talk more up there!” Rikku pointed up again, bouncing up and down in vain. The ship didn’t budge. Paine, feeling doubtful, crossed her arms and sighed in resignation. “Ugh, I’m gonna whoop that tebcred’c butt if he doesn’t land!”

With great effort on Rikku’s behalf and several creative poses later, the ship was still right where it always had been. Paine sat herself down and groaned.

“Don’t you have a real way of contacting them?” She barked. “They’re thousands of feet in the sky, if that’s even your ship.”

“Okay well I hate using it and you’re gonna hate it too! But you asked for it,” Rikku crossed her arms in a huff and pulled out some sort of box shaped transceiver from the middle of her scarf. She flicked a button on and a screech burst out from the box, scattering a bush full of birds in the shriek. Rikku held another button down and the squawking went quiet. 

_“Pnudran! Belg sa ib nekrd huf, oui tispycc!”_ Paine marveled at just how much static could be made with so small a machina. Or, machine. Whichever. She still wasn’t one hundred percent sure what to call those or how to feel about touching them. The words were met with an extremely shrill man’s tinny voice coming from the box. Paine jolted and covered her ears in shock.

“Rikku! _Fa druikrd oui teat!”_ Rikku gave a look that was half way between a grimace and a pout. _“Fa yna uh uin fyo!”_

At last, the ship began to move with an elegant flourish. If Buddy was piloting, she could tell he was a talent at it. How she was going to deal with Brother, however, was more of a mystery. She wondered how long she could get away with pretending not to speak Al Bhed, too, a smile curling on her lips momentarily. The ship slowly descended before them and Paine turned to Rikku, bracing the powerful wind.

“I’m Paine.” She said, over the roaring gusts of the spinning wheels.

“Welcome to the Gullwings, Paine!” Rikku said, tossing her hands out wide with a bright impish smile and half-lidded eyes. She gave her a wink as the wheels hit the land. “Glad to have ya.”


	2. Inevitable Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Paine knew eventually if she stuck around Rikku, she'd end up meeting the High Summoner, but never thought it would be so soon or, worse, because of her own words. When Rikku is distressed over the treatment of her dear cousin, can Paine deal with this inevitable meeting in a productive way?

Paine settled in relatively easily once she’d learned the others’ patterns. Adapting is a talent of hers, after all. The three men were far too loud for her to really care much for, as they’d more or less ignored her for Rikku on the regular. It wasn’t entirely their fault, the abrasiveness didn’t bother her too much--she was brand new and also not an Al Bhed to add upon the strangeness. It was fair enough that they only spoke their own language on ship before she’d come around. Rikku, however, would chastise them and gripe whenever they excluded the new woman, smacking her brother hard enough to send him across the deck. Paine felt vaguely flattered at the gesture, but never corrected them herself. 

Rikku herself was more of an open book than the rest of the team. Paine didn’t take it upon herself to actively talk to her, but because Rikku was the type of girl who very easily opened up to others she taught Paine an immeasurable amount of things about herself. Rikku’s favorite talking points were food she was currently thinking about, and High Summoner Yuna, currently living in Besaid and working diligently in the temple to greet pilgrims. Most conversation topics would put a bright and vibrant smile on her face, but bringing up Yuna’s work made her face sink into an almost angry face. 

The women sat together at the bar, which would have been a nice touch, if it weren’t for the horrible decorating choices. Pick your poison indeed, stare too long at the Hypello who--distressingly--would not introduce himself as anything other than ‘Barkeep’, or at the shouting face of Cid himself. The Gullwings sure knew how to pick winners. The good news was that Cid was loaded, even after the destruction of Home. Barkeep was able to keep the place stocked up tight with some of the best liquor Paine had ever encountered. Maybe her years as a mercenary and soldier gave her a lower bar for booze, but to her newfound appreciation for booze these bottles were next to heaven. Especially for whatever Rikku was going to start talking about this time. 

“I just don’t get why she has to sacrifice herself all the time. I know what Wakka says, but he’s stupid and still living in the past. It’s not like he’s in Yuna’s head! Ugh.” Rikku flopped her arms over the bar, face against the counter. “I want to see Yunie. It’s not fair, after all she’s been through… I should just scoop her up and take her away from all of that!”

“What’s stopping you?” Paine asked, licking her lips for the smoky flavor left over. Rikku caught the movement from the corner of her eye and bit her lip. The blonde looks away, exhaling a shaky sigh. “I bet Yuna would like somebody to ask her what she wants.” Rikku pushed herself up and grinned wide. 

“...I mean, you’re not wrong. We could just fly over there. I’ve done it a few times, but we only got to see each other for such a short time...” Rikku swiveled around and leaned back, crossing her arms. She blew a piece of hair out of her face and pursed her lips in thought. “But Wakka always stops us short.”

“All you have to do is go see.” Paine took another sip, eyeing the other woman. “Who cares what anybody but Yuna thinks?” It was clear Rikku had been just waiting for an excuse to get Yuna out of that island, judging by how much she’d chattered on about it even just that night. 

“You… You’re great, you know that?” Rikku leaned in a little closer to Paine, biting her bottom lip and giving her a wink. “Yeah. Who cares, let’s go! I got just the thing to convince her, too. I’ve had this sucker burning in my pocket for like, a week.” Rikku bolted upright and sped right out of the cabin, leaving Paine in the dust. 

Once the Eternal Calm arrived, Yuna immediately became a colossal celebrity. A full schedule meeting adoring pilgrims at her local temple had been thrust upon her by the overbearing monks and the rigidity of the meetings allowed Yuna very little time to herself. She felt obliged to do the work they asked of her, leaving her with very little sleep, let alone any time to herself. A responsibility she did not choose, yet again. The few times she could meet people unscheduled was allotted for her ex-Guardians only, and from the visit or two Rikku had been allowed it was clear Yuna was getting tired. Yuna needed this reprieve. It was obvious to everybody who was watching her with any kind of empathy. When your only escape is holding your breath under water you need change, and Rikku knew she owed that to Yuna.

Paine felt the ship lurch, shaking her enough to almost spill her drink, were she a lesser woman. She huffed and finished the drink off, dropping off some gil for Barkeep and shuffling out to the bridge. Brother was intently steering and Rikku was dancing to herself in her own cockpit, clearly over excited. Like always. It took only about an hour for the ship to reach a docking station for boats and they landed with ease. Rikku ran straight off the ship with no care for safety, swinging off the handrail onto the docks without so much as a goodbye or ‘be right back’. It would be a few days before they saw Rikku again, though she kept in contact with her transceiver on her journey. 

Paine found herself truly missing Rikku, which was perhaps not the newest sensation. After all the people she’d lost, Paine grew accustomed to the faint ache in her heart that wouldn’t even fade with drink. And Yevon knows she’d tried. So when it came back up, as strong as the ones she’d lost before for a girl she’d met only months before it threw Paine for a loop. Heartache, though familiar, still stung. So she stayed silent during the absence of the sunny girl, ignoring the bickering in Al Bhed from the men around her in the cabin. No Rikku meant no sphere hunting jobs and no jobs meant loitering around the cabin to avoid human contact. 

Rikku came back as loudly as she did everything else in her life, voice almost reaching the cabin where Paine sat idly. Paine felt her heart skip a beat and finished her latest drink to head down to the elevator. The whirring machinery did little to stop her head from pounding. Was Yuna there? Would she be allowed to meet her? Feeling sheepish, Paine rubbed her face and exhaled a long breath to stabilize herself as she walked off the lift, lifting her head to put the facade of coolness back on.

“Yunie, welcome to the ship!” Rikku shouted, giving a spin and tossing her arms out wide. Paine lingered in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest. “Oh, here’s Paine! She’s new.” Rikku elbows the brunette in the side, who turned to face the interloper, eyes wide like a rabbit’s. 

Yuna was clearly nervous, head low and eyes averted to avoid seeming confrontational. How surreal it was to see the woman Paine had thought so much of behaving like a shrinking violet when introduced to her. She knew she was intimidating, but perhaps hadn’t really quantified how intimidating she was in particular. 

“Oh, ah… Hello.” Yuna said, face a soft pink, doing her best to look up at the woman. Yevon help Paine now, because in the flesh Yuna was even more dazzling a beauty than she ever realized. Those memories of two years ago had faded to dullness but brightened like a shining star once she met those eyes. Feeling the dip in her stomach, Paine steeled herself and gave a little wave to the ex-summoner. Rikku had clearly given her a new set of clothing, because they were clearly much more up her alley than Yuna’s. Paine didn’t need to be a mind reader to see how tight Yuna held her legs together. 

“Okay you know that’s not how you meet somebody, say _hello_ , Paine.” Rikku said, giving Paine a stink eye. 

“You sure didn’t wait to tackle me when we met.” Paine retorted, checking her nails to avoid the blindingly cute woman in front of her. Rikku gasped in shock, brows furrowing in anger. “The name is Paine, like Rikku _already_ said.” Yuna seemed to relax a little bit at the exchange. It was clear she was worried about this new person to have to interact with, when so much was changing she could hardly keep up. But the way Rikku always made friends so easily soothed her concern.

“It’s very nice to meet you.” Yuna said, clasping her hands in front and smiling widely to Paine. “I hope we’ll get to know each other soon.” Paine could feel the heat creep up her neck and averted her eyes one more time. 

“Yeah.” She said, turning around. She could barely hide how red her face had gotten just from that standard level of kindness Yuna was rumored to offer everybody. Paine walked away there, exhaling another nervous breath as she finally found herself alone in the elevator. 

This was going to be difficult. The feelings she thought she could hide were in full bloom as soon as she was in the same room as Yuna, giving her a full body blush she couldn’t avoid. She skulked through the cabin’s hall onto a chair far away from any prying Barkeep eyes and sunk her body into the worn leather, covering her eyes and groaning.

“What was THAT?” Comes shouting a voice, making Paine grimace and turn her face away. “Seriously, “yeah”? That’s all you got?” Rikku stomped into the room and Paine sank deeper into the armchair, pursing her lips.

“I don’t know. I don’t know people, okay? I can hardly deal with you and the chuckle squad over there. Would you give me a break?” She tossed a hand at Rikku, waving her away. “I’m busy. Leave me alone.”

“Um, no, Yuna thinks you hate her. Could you at least think of someone who isn’t yourself for like, a second?” Rikku leaned over the chair, trapping Paine there with her long arms. “I’m not leaving until you go apologize to her. I don’t tolerate a sad Yuna and I super don’t tolerate people who MAKE Yuna sad!” Still avoiding Rikku’s eyes, Paine ran a hand through her own hair and deliberated. 

“And what are you going to do if I don’t want to?” Paine asked, meeting her captor’s bright green eyes. “You’re not that scary.”

“I dunno.” Rikku leaned closer, their faces much closer than Paine perhaps expected. “Maybe I’ll have to tease it out of you.” Her hand slides down the chair’s backing and onto Paine’s shoulder. Paine swallowed a hard lump down and continued the cool facade.

“Maybe I should just move you myself.” It was less about apologizing and more about even seeing Yuna again. Paine traced her own hand from the armrest up to Rikku’s hip, narrowing her red eyes and lifting her chin at her. “Cause I don’t really like getting teased.”

“Oh, so you can dish it out but not take it, got it.” Rikku laughed, sliding her knee between Paine’s legs. “Am I really teasing if I saw the ways you look at me? And at Yunie, too. You think you’re so subtle, but you really aren’t.” Rikku licked her lips idly, daring Paine to say more.

“Coming from someone who couldn’t make a sandwich silently.” Paine tightened her fingers against the waistband of Rikku’s shorts. “I’m just polite.”

“Well, not in Yuna’s eyes. Do you really think playing cold will get you anywhere with somebody like her?” Rikku backed up, hands on her hips. “You can be as polite as you want, but until you really open up to her she’ll just keep her distance. She’s too goody-goody to ever breach anybody’s boundaries, so we have to do the breaching.” Rikku gave a wink. 

“...I’m not sure I can do it.” Paine admitted at last, eyes darting aside. Her heart still pounded as if she’d still been pressed against the chair, heat filling her body. “She’s… overwhelming to meet.”

“Oh come on, she’s just a person. No matter what ‘celebrity’ means to other people, Yunie is a real gem. But she gets hurt too. Do you really want her to feel so bad about just talking to you?” Rikku held her hand out to Paine expectantly. As much as she wished she could just pretend to ignore it, Paine reached out and grabbed her hand, rising up from the chair somewhat sheepishly. 

“Let’s go.” Paine said firmly, releasing her hand and starting off towards the elevator before Rikku could react. 

Yuna clearly didn’t know what to do with herself when she was alone. None of the men aboard would speak common on the ship, if only to accommodate Brother who could not speak it period, a fair enough reason but one that would leave anybody feeling isolated. When Paine and Rikku returned to the bridge she was seated alone on the stairs, head in her hands and clearly not certain about her choice.

“Hey.” Paine said, standing over Yuna. Yuna froze, and turned around to face her before hurrying out of the way. 

“I-I’m so sorry, there isn’t really, um, anywhere to sit around here…” She sputtered, her own face red. “I didn’t mean to be in the way.”

“N-No, that’s…” Paine sighed, her shoulders slouching a little. “I’m sorry. I’m glad to meet you, Lady Yuna.” The brunette winced a little at the name, but gave a much more relieved smile than the worry she’d worn before.

“You can just call me Yuna, I don’t mind.” She said, that bright smile nearly sweeping Paine off her feet. Inside her head she only screamed, but gave Yuna her best possible smile. Maybe it wasn’t the best smile from other people’s standards, but Yevon knows Paine was trying. 

Turns out, trying felt good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for reading! Sorry this took such a long time, but I work better when I have time to ruminate on things. I appreciate the feedback on the first chapter and very much want to keep going.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hoping to keep this fic rolling!!


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